Rotherham boss Paul Warne has labelled Saturday’s home clash with Nottingham Forest a ‘cup final’ as they look to avoid an instant return to League One.
The Millers hopes of Championship survival took an almighty blow at Derby County last weekend, with Warne’s men losing 6-1 at the hands of Frank Lampard’s play-off hopefuls.
United are a point adrift of safety with seven games to go, and Warne admits he wants to see a positive reaction when Martin O’Neill’s Reds arrive at the New York Stadium.
“I’ve asked the lads to take a look at themselves and we have seven cup finals games left,” said the Millers chief.
Forest will arrive in south Yorkshire looking to end a run of eight successive draws against United on the road, and earn a first win since March 2002 to continue their play-off push.
For Warne, he hopes his squad will learn from their Pride Park demolition and respond in a positive manner against Forest with survival the aim.
“We’ve had defeats before, so we have to bounce back and have a positive reaction for the Forest game," he said.
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“We will come in and look through the good and the bad and learn from it.
“No-one can have any complaints, if I don’t play them next week.
“The players want to do well but that wasn’t the case (at Pride Park). I want the lads to stay together.
“We all want to do well for the club and we do not want our season to tail away.”
